Last weekend, with the release of Iron Man just a few days away, the
cast of the movie were hopeful that the opening weekend would do well
enough that they’d get a chance to make a sequel to the film, which
stars Robert Downey Jr. as the armaments maker who becomes his best
ever weapon. With a reported gross of nearly US$85 million over the
weekend, it looks like there will be another film, and another chance
to see actors like Gwyneth Paltrow and Terrence Howard expand the
supporting roles they played in the original.
When she signed on to do the film, Paltrow claims she was completely
mystified by the anticipatory clauses in the contracts she signed. “At
the time it just felt so foreign to me.,” she said at a press even in
New York. “Like, what do you mean you sign up for three before you’ve
done one? I don’t understand. But now I’m so happy that I did because
it was such a good job that I would be happy just to keep going and
keep working with those guys.”
Howard even got a line in the film that hinted at his own
transformation into Iron Man, or rather a tricked-out version of the
superhero named War Machine, which is presumed to be a major part of
the plot of a second film. “Yeah,” Howard says, smiling at the memory
of the line. “Robin might get to ride in the Batmobile one day. No, I’m
pretty sure we’re gonna go there. The response to even that one little
statement, the roar in the audience – I didn’t know that War Machine
was so beloved or anticipated.”
Paltrow says that roles like Pepper Potts, right-hand girl and love
interest for Downey’s Tony Stark, are exactly the sorts of things she
was looking for after taking time off to have a family. “I thought, if
when my son is about a year old, and there’s something that seems like
it’ll be fun and inspiring and not too demanding – I was very nervous
about going back to work – and then Jon (Favreau, Iron Man director)
called and he explained what the movie was going to be about at face
value and what the other metaphors in the movie were, and he explained
my character and said ‘She’s gonna be great and you’re gonna have fun,
it’s gonna be good scenes.’ And I said, ‘I’ll do it,’ and I’m so happy
that I did because I had such a good time. Those guys are brilliant – I
grew up always wanting to work with Robert and Jeff Bridges – I mean,
he’s the Big Lebowski! He’s a god, an acting god!”
For his part, Howard says he’s looking forward to his 12-year-old son
seeing him become War Machine in the next film. “Yeah, I hope so. I
hope he’ll get to see his father do some crazy, crazy stuff. If we do
get to do that, I’ll have them make him his own little suit he can play
with in the neighbourhood.”
